The presence of microbial contaminants that jeopardize product safety is a major problem in the food industry. Surface contamination of raw materials, product contact surfaces, and non-product contact surfaces are substantial challenges in the production of safe wholesome foods. Current sanitation practices involve preoperational cleaning and sanitation which does not confer residual sanitation properties to the surfaces. A number of liquid sanitization agents have been developed and are used during processing, most of which run off and have short-term effects.
An instructive example of issues relating to contaminated product surfaces is the meat packing industry, which at times represents a relatively extreme case involving gross levels of contamination. Microbiological loads on external surfaces of cattle are, based on various art-recognized studies, one of the primary sources of bacterial contamination of the derivative meat products. Therefore, lowering bacterial population densities on the surface of hides and carcass, and minimizing the transfer of contaminants could greatly reduce transfer of surface contamination (e.g., from contaminated hides) to the final product.
Various precautions and treatments have been applied to reduce bacterial contaminants on carcass surfaces; however, none can insure complete decimation of the microorganisms, or effectively preclude surface transfer of residual contamination. While decontamination interventions have been designed for preventing, reducing, or eliminating microbial contamination in the meat industry, the efforts have been focused on Good Manufacturing Practices and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures for controlling microbial contamination of equipment and utensils used in processing, and decontamination treatments for controlling microbial contamination on the meat surfaces. The exterior surface and internal organs of live animals sent to slaughter are regarded as the primary source for introducing microbial contamination into processing facilities.
The harvest phase of meat production is perhaps the most challenging food production process in terms of controlling microbial contamination and transfer thereof down the production line into final products. The process of sanitary dressing of animals involves a number of steps in which implements used for the separation of hide from the carcass may become contaminated from the hide, and subsequently transfer the contamination to other surfaces on or within the carcass. The transfer of such contaminants is usually from microbial-contaminated hide to deep inside the carcass via cuts performed by hide-contaminated knives.
Currently, in the practice of ‘dehiding’ or general carcass fabrication, the cutting blade or other implements are decontaminated by dipping into hot water (>180° F.). When this step is done correctly, however, it ensures only the cleanliness of the implements prior to use. In practice, the implements often touch contaminated surfaces (e.g., the hide) during the dehiding process. Microbes on the hide are thus inadvertently transferred from the hide to the carcass by means of the cutting implement. Another mechanism of transfer is by workers contacting the hide and subsequently touching another part of the carcass. Additional means of contaminant transfer include direct contact between the contaminated surface of the hide and areas of the exposed carcass, airborne transfer of contaminants, and contacts between product and non-product surfaces. Likewise, during the manufacturing of retail cuts, ‘primals’ and ‘subprimals’ are cut into smaller portions, and surface contamination is transferred through implements and product contact areas to the final product.
Contamination transfer issues also exist in the other segments of the food industry. In fish processing, similar problems occur during the cleaning and filleting operations. In the production of ready-to-eat food products, contamination travels from the raw processing areas to the final production areas and to the products primarily because the surfaces and the implements do not have residual antimicrobial components on them to prevent/reduce contamination.
Therefore, there is a pronounced need in the art to devise antimicrobial intervention strategies that can act as a barrier to prevent the transfer of bacterial contaminants from one surface to another during the preparation of foods, pharmaceuticals and other items which require asepsis or low bio-burden.